Time to give real heroes Living Wage they deserve

It takes discipline to stop overworking or skiving

Are you working from home? Me too. Hellish, isn’t it?

As Covid-19 has become the biggest influence on human society in living memory, more than a quarter of the population of Earth found themselves in lockdown. Millions more face some restrictions on movement. Businesses forcing staff to go to work, when they might work from home, are shunned and criticised.

A lot of people tap away at keyboards at their kitchen tables these days.

Before we proceed, let’s recognise those who can’t work at home but must keep working. The people restocking shops, cleaning door handles and emptying bins deserve our applause – and more money.

The least they deserve is a Living Wage – different from a Minimum Wage, it’s the accepted minimum hourly rate needed to fund a decent standard of living – and, if you ever thought they weren’t worth it, how hollow is that sounding now? Key workers should be paid accordingly.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are working at home, wondering why we wasted time commuting before the boss decided we could be unsupervised.

I can work almost anywhere. I’ve written at roadsides in howling storms, trapped underground in a stalled subway train, and in village halls while elderly ladies fed me scones. Newspaper offices are often so grim it’s better to work at home.

But homeworking isn’t easy. The line between work and life gets fuzzy, so it takes discipline to stop overworking or skiving.

The first thing to go is your dignity. The stains on my clothing today are Branston pickle – honestly.

I try to keep the conference call video turned off. But mental wellbeing is a challenge, too.

While those of us lucky enough to have jobs find ways to complete them at home, we’re surviving more than a virus.

We’re under threat from family tensions, bad posture, overeating and more, so we need to help each other.

Consider a quick “hi” to a friend or colleague today. It’ll only take a second, and maybe it’ll help them get through another day.